Handling railway-car wheels



(No Model.)

P. H. GRIFFIN.

HANDLING RAILWAY OAR WHEELS. 110.431.114. Patented July 1,1891).

I l 1 V w m' I Witnesses:

flfiorneys.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PATRICK HENRY GRIFFIN, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

HANDLING RAILWAY-CAR WH EELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,114, dated July 1, 1890.

' Application filed April 9, 1890. Serial No. 347,208. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PATRICK HENRY GRIF- FIN, of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trucks for Handling Railway Oar \Vheels; and I do hereby declare that the following description of my said invention, taken in connection with the accompanying sheet of drawings, forms a full, clear, and exact specification, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has general reference to improvements in trucks and platforms for handside, and Fig.4 an end, elevation of the truck proper. Fig. 5 is a plan of the same.

Like parts are indicated by corresponding letters of reference in all the figures.

The object of this invention is the production of ready means for placing car-wheels upon and removing them from the car-wheelgrinding machines, being machines especially designed and patented by me for grinding the treads and flanges of car-wheels, and consisting, essentially, of alathe having expansible arbors projecting from the ends of the machine, andupon which arbors the wheels are placed, emery-wheels being arranged to operate upon the treads and flanges of said wheels, such class of machines being well known, so as not to require an extensive description in this case.

A is a platform constructed of timbers supported upon suitably-arranged beams to and cross-timbers a a, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. In this platform there is a recess A, wherein terminates the track, said track consisting of two rails Z) I), carried upon sleepers c in proper manner and leading to the machine or machines, where said car-wheels are to be operated upon.

Upon the track-rails is placed a truck or carriage consisting of a rectangular platform D, which has in its upper surface a series of step-like offsets or treads cl 6 F, of predetermined rise, corresponding to the difference in diameter of the various sizes of car-wheels as now manufactured, so that a car-wheel, when in an erect position upon the respective tread of the truck, will have its central bore coinciding with the arbor of the grindin g-maehin c, said platform of the truck being provided on its under side with bolsters I, having bearings 71 h for the reception of axles i, carrying on their outer ends flanged track-wheels H, so as enable the truck to run upon said rails in a proper manner.

In the treads (1 e F of the truck there are curved depressions d e g to receive the treads of the car-wheels, which are placed upon the truck in a vertical position, and may thus be easily handled and moved from place to place in a very convenient manner, thus saving a large amount of manual labor that the platform D, and the proper one thereof used as occasion requires.

The floor-platform and the truck can cheaply be produced in wood and iron and placed upon the ordinary factory-floors in a manner that will readily suggest itself to the intelligent mechanic.

The truck heretofore described for hand ling the car-Wheels is arranged to accommodate wheels of twenty-eight, thirty, and thirtythree inches, respectively, the first-mentioned size resting upon the tread g and the lastnamed size upon the tread d; but in many car-Wheel Works sizes as small as twenty-four inches and as large as thirty-six and forty inches are made. It would not be possible to accommodate these variations in diameter by a continuation of the steps d e F of the truck Without making the operation of the truck inconvenient and its construction unwieldy. Series of auxiliary tracks I) b and jj' are therefore set under the truck for it to operate upon, so that when wheels of large diameter are operated upon one or both sets of the auxiliary tracks may be removed and the truck placed in position at a lower elevation.

The object of the platform heretofore described is to enable a car-wheel to be readily loaded upon the truck by a single operator. This object could not be readily accomplished without a platform, the top surface of which is about on a level with the said truclgso as to roll the wheel thereon, and since the earwheels vary in diameter, but have to be so loaded that their centers correspond with the center of the mandrel of the grinding-machine and the step-like treads of the truck used for that purpose, this platform has to be arranged for adjustment, so as to correspond with said steps, and this is accomplished by means of a hinged section A" of the platform A, by which it may be raised or lowered to a corresponding elevation with the truck, suitable beams being inserted under the platform A{ to sustain it firmly in position after the ad justment is made. t

The elevation of each section of the auxiliiary tracks is planned in relation to the steps on the truck, so that any diameter of wheel can be placed in position for mounting or for the grinding-machine, with its center at a proper height for the axle or the expanding mandrel of the grinding-machine to enter the bore of the wheel.

The car-wheel, when upon the truck, rests with its tread in the curved portion of the respective step, and thus sustains itself (or nearly so) in an erect position, so that the Workman can push the truck by the Wheel, and thus move it along to the grinding-machine, the platform being preferably placed in close proximity to said machine.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure to me by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. As a means for handling railway-car wheels, a fixed inclined platform havinga recess, as described, and an adjustable section in said platform terminating at said recess and being supported upon beams, as set forth, whereby said adjustable section may be re tained at suitable height,-as and for the purpose stated. 1

2. A truck for handling car-wheels, consisting of a platform thereon having a series of step-like treads provided with curved depres sions, the bolsters underneath said platform provided with bearings, the axles, and Wheels, as and for the obj eet specified.

3. In a car-truck for handling car-wheels,

the platform provided wit-h a series of steplike treads having curved depressions, as set forth. I

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention 1 have hereto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. PATRICK HENRY GRIFFIN. Attest:

MICHAEL J. STARK, WM. 0. STARK. 

